Busted…with the Help of NICS

April 15, 2015Originally published in the April 2015 edition of the CJIS Link, Volume 17, Number 1

NICS Inquiry Leads to Subject’s Apprehension

In January 2015, a legal instruments examiner with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Section processed a transaction for a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) regarding a long gun purchase. The NICS examiner identified a match based on descriptive data in the NCIC and researched the transaction. The NCIC entry contained a warrant issued in January 2015 by a sheriff’s office for aggravated assault with a weapon. The NICS examiner contacted the sheriff’s office, where staff confirmed the active warrant. Based on the information received, the NICS examiner provided the FFL with a deny status. Two hours later, the sheriff’s office contacted the NICS examiner to request the address of the subject; deputies had attempted to apprehend the subject at the FFL, but the individual had already left the store. Later, the sheriff’s office advised the NICS Section that they had apprehended the subject.